GoDaddy, Barnes Group, and More Stocks See Action From Activist Investors

In a letter addressed to GoDaddy dated Jan. 31, Starboard wrote that though GoDaddy’s stock has performed well over the past few months, the company is “still valued at a large discount compared to peers and its own historical trading multiple.” As a result, Starboard believes that at GoDaddy’s March 6 investor day, management should stress “consistent improvement in [GoDaddy’s] combination of growth and profitability.”

Further, Starboard believes that a “40% growth plus profitability for full year 2025…is readily achievable through a reasonable acceleration in revenue growth and meaningful margin expansion.”

Lastly, given GoDaddy’s solid cash flows, Starboard would like the company to continue buying back stock, as it believes that “repurchasing undervalued [GoDaddy] shares is the best use of capital.” GoDaddy stock is up about 2% so far this year.

Original Filings

Barnes Group

Irenic Capital Management disclosed a fresh stake in the industrial molding, robotics, and aerospace engineering firm of 2,572,142 shares. Irenic Capital purchased 1,560,724 Barnes Group shares at per share prices ranging from $26.12 to $32.85 from Nov. 30, 2023, through Jan. 18, 2024. Irenic Capital now owns 5.1% of Barnes’ tradable stock.

Irenic Capital revealed that it nominated two candidates for election to Barnes’ board at the upcoming 2024 shareholders meeting, including Adam Katz, Irenic co-founder and chief investment officer. Irenic hasn’t developed any plans or proposals and intends to discuss with Barnes Group a range of topics, including board composition, corporate structure, and strategies.

Decreases in Holdings

Seadrill

Elliott Management trimmed its position in the offshore-drilling-service company to 5,979,814 shares. From Dec. 22, 2023, through Jan. 25, 2024, Elliott Management sold 645,401 Seadrill shares at per-share prices ranging from $45.60 to $47.85. Elliott now holds 8.1% of Seadrill’s outstanding stock.

Elliott also disclosed that its Elliott funds entered into cash-settled swap agreements with respect to 3,937,302 Seadrill shares. The swaps give Elliott funds the “economic results of ownership” in Seadrill’s stock, but not actual ownership.

CBIZ

P2 Capital Partners sold 104,200 shares of the provider of business-advisory services, reducing its ownership to 2,390,997 CBIZ shares. P2 Capital’s sales occurred on Jan. 25 and Jan. 26, at prices ranging from $64.82 to $65.08 apiece. P2 Capital now holds a 4.8% interest in the advisory firm, below the 5% threshold that would require any further disclosure of CBIZ stock sales.

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